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Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Ok, since Madhu requested links and SNLII thinks we should write about New York Times reporters who are not "he's so dreamy" C.J. Chivers, I thought I would post this link to an interview David Rohde gave to CFR on "Miscalculations in U.S. Afghan Offensive."

I found the first question was phrased in a particularly inane fashion:

U.S. and NATO military commanders in Afghanistan are not being coy about their planned Kandahar offensive scheduled for June. You have a unique perspective on the situation in southern Afghanistan and the nearby tribal areas of Pakistan. What's your crystal ball telling you about the pending offensive?

Once again, think of the audience. It's fairly banal, but it is also a pretty basic (emphasis on the basic) primer for the uninitiated.

Okay, who is the audience supposed to be?

I disagree. For one thing, I think interviews generally ought to be directed at exposing the unique knowledge or informed opinions of the subject, which is to say finding out the things that this individual can tell you that no one else can. Thousands of other people could've made the same banal, generic points that Rohde did.

As far as audience is concerned, I'm not sure that CFR is catering to the sort of people who need to be told that India and Pakistan have a contentious relationship.

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